Analysis and comment from Memphis, Tennessee, on media, politics, culture, science, my life and anything else that catches my eye.

Monday, January 20, 2003

Why Not Z?

I mentioned below that I'd get a bit more personal with Half-Bakered now that I'm no longer anonymous. One thing I'm sure some have noticed is that I spell words normally using a "z" with an "s" instead. For example: recognise, familiarise, etc., rather than the more common recognize, familiarize, etc.

Why? Well, the short answer is that I'm an Anglophile. I really like the British way with the English language (after all, they invented it!). A beautiful woman with a British accent melts me every time. And in speech, I've noticed that we Americans don't often actually pronounce these words with the harsh "z" sound, but with a softer variant. So, I decided to adopt the more euphonious "s" instead.

Now, that doesn't mean I use words like pram and kerb. Nor do I eat steak and kidney pie, nor do I like cricket. And I still spell something I've won "prize." I just like the way "recognise" looks on the page and sounds in the mind's ear. So there you are.